Two Edmonton men have been charged with human trafficking after police say several foreign workers were forced to clock up to 90 hours a week without proper pay. R-C-M-P say they started investigating last summer after receiving a complaint about exploitative working conditions at a gas station and motel owned by the men. The motel is in the northwestern town of Fox Creek, while the gas station is in Calmar, southwest of Edmonton. A 55-year-old man and his 26-year-old son face a total of five charges, and police say they're also looking into allegations of money laundering.

Statistics Canada said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent in June as the economy added some 83,000 jobs. The vast majority of those jobs were part-time, the agency said, with 47,000 positions added in the private sector. A Reuters poll of economists heading into Friday’s release had expected the jobless rate would rise to 7.1 per cent in June as employment levels held flat. The June figures buck the recent slowdown in the labour market. Last month was the first significant job gain since January and snapped a streak of three consecutive m

Prime Minister Mark Carney says the Canadian government will "steadfastly" defend workers and businesses following the latest trade threats by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a post on social media, Carney says Canada will continue to work to secure a trade deal with the U.S. by a revised deadline of Aug. 1. In a letter to Carney on Thursday, Trump threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods by that date, evidently setting a new deadline for the trade talks that had been looking to wrap by July 21. Trump wrote if Canada works to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States h

Shots were been fired at the Kap's Cafe in Surrey, which opened just a few days ago. The incident took place early morning at around 1:50 am. Located near 84th Avenue and 120th Street, this cafe belongs to Kapil Sharma, a famous personality in the Hindi film industry and the world of stand-up comedy, and his wife Ginni. The cafe had a soft launch this weekend and no date had been announced yet for a major launch event. When the Connect Newsroom team assessed the scene, they found at least 10 bullet holes on one side of the cafe. Police markings could also be seen on them. In addition, the gla

Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday that Canada will respond to US President Donald Trump's 50 percent tariff on copper imports. Trump's tariff will take effect from August 1. Joly said that we will fight against it, but she did not give any details about what steps Canada might take. It is worth noting that President Trump, describing copper as the second most used material in defense, had called it a matter of national security and said that he was imposing tariffs to prevent copper from coming from abroad. According to Natural Resources Canada, in 2023, the United S

The Canadian government has decided to reimburse car dealers for electric vehicle subsidies. In fact, car dealers had given customers rebates according to the subsidy before the federal government abruptly ended the subsidy program in January. Nearly six months after the program was shut down, Transport Canada is reopening its claims system so that dealerships can refund the rebates given to customers. Ottawa shut down the program after American electric car company Tesla filed millions of dollars in subsidy claims in a short period of time. The government said the funding allocated for th

The wildfire threat is worsening in northern Manitoba, prompting alerts and evacuations for at least two more communities. Garden Hill First Nation, with a population of about 3,000, is being threatened by fire. Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister for emergency management, says Ottawa has approved Manitoba's request for armed forces support and evacuations in the Garden Hill area are underway. The Town of Snow Lake has also issued a mandatory evacuation order and is telling its 1,000 residents to stay with friends or family or at a shelter 600 kilometres south in Winnipeg. Mayor Ron Scott

Alberta's education minister is set to provide an update today on the development of new provincial rules for school library books. Demetrios Nicolaides announced in May that Alberta would be setting new standards for the books. He said the review came after his ministry became aware of four coming-of-age graphic novels in school libraries in Edmonton and Calgary. Nicolaides said each of the books contained inappropriate content, including graphic sexual material as well as depictions of molestation, drug and alcohol use. A government survey on the topic launched after Nicolaides' anno

Vancouver's city council has voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit on local streets to 30 kilometres per hour, down from the provincially mandated 50 kilometres per hour. The city says in a release that the vote "sets the stage" for the phased introduction of the new limit on residential streets without a centre line. It says new signage will be installed in 25 "neighbourhood slow zones" over the next three years, with other neighbourhoods being added later subject to budget allocations. The city says lowering the speed limit on local residential streets can reduce pedestrian fatality ra